Pittsburgh Foundation President: Close Liquor Stores, Stop Paychecks Until Budget Passed

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – One local official has a bold idea for how to get the state budget passed: close the liquor stores and cut off lawmakers' paychecks.

Pittsburgh Foundation President and CEO Maxwell King said targeting liquor stores and paychecks could get lawmakers to agree in a post on the foundation's website.

King says that the budget impasse has been hard on the nonprofit social service sector, calling it "morally reprehensible."

He also says state officials need to share the pain and pressure of those who use social programs. King calls for legislators to stop using a special fund used to pay their salaries when other funds run out.

"We believe this would be the perfect time for an executive order immediately closing all state-run wine and liquor stores until a budget is passed, so we all can focus on the concept of giving up things we believe we can't live without," he writes.

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